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Same-sex marriage: couples united, America divided

( Updated: 08/27/2014 )

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Dale Frost holds the wedding ring which he purchased for his partner Mark Massey before their wedding at the City Clerk's Office in New York on Oct., 2012. The couple met in 2010 and decided to make the trek from their home state of Georgia to marry in New York, where same sex marriage is legal. Andrew Kelly/Reuters

Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta kisses her girlfriend Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Va., after Gaeta's ship returned from 80 days at sea on Dec., 2011. It ís a time-honored tradition at Navy homecomings - one lucky sailor is chosen to be first off the ship for the long-awaited kiss with a loved one. For the first time in navy history, the happily reunited couple was gay. Brian J. Clark/The Virginian-Pilot/AP

Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer speaks at a news conference announcing she has vetoed SB1062, a bill designed to give added protection from lawsuits to people who assert their religious beliefs in refusing service to gays, at the Arizona Capitol on February 2014. Ross D. Franklin/AP

Sari Van Poelje, in red, dances with Katharina during their commitment ceremony given by Elvis tribute artist Michael Conti, at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on July 2014. Gay marriage isn't legal in Nevada but the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel will perform a commitment ceremony for couples of any sex. John Locher/AP

Surrounded by family and friends, Cathy ten Broeke gets her makeup done in the Presidential Suite of the Hotel Minneapolis in Minneapolis on July, 2013. Margaret Miles (l.) and Ms. ten Broeke (r.) will be the first couple to be married at midnight on Aug. 1 under a new state law legalizing same-sex marriage. Brian Peterson/The Star Tribune/AP

Ruth Langstraat (l.) and Roxanne Whitelight celebrate the US Supreme Court ruling striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in Terry Schrunk Plaza in Portland, Ore. The couple were married in December 2012 in Vancouver, Wash. Allison Milligan/The Oregonian/AP

Plaintiffs Matthew Barraza (l.) and his husband, Tony Milner, hold their son during a news conference in Salt Lake City on Jan., 2014,. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the state of Utah saying that the state has put hundreds of gay and lesbian couples in legal limbo and prevented them from getting key protections for themselves and their children. Rick Bowmer/AP

Frances Newby prepares to slice a wedding cake to celebrate the passage of Amendment One at an election night party in Raleigh on May, 2012. North Carolina voters approved the constitutional amendment defining marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, becoming the latest state to refuse to allow same-sex marriages. Robert Willett/The News & Observer/AP

A couple ride a bicycle in a street during an annual gay parade in Hanoi, Vietnam on Aug., 2014. About a thousand people participated in Hanoi's annual gay pride bike rally on Sunday in a rare show of support for equal rights and same-sex marriage. Hau Dinh/AP

Rainbow-colored lights illuminate City Hall in San Francisco the evening after the US Supreme court upheld the federal Defense of Marriage Act, but fell short of issuing a landmark ruling on same-sex marriage. Noah Berger/Reuters

Anti-gay marriage protesters stage a rally during the court hearing on gay marriage in Miami, Fl., on July 2014. Attorneys for gay couples and the state of Florida are squaring off at a hearing on a lawsuit challenging Florida's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. J Pat Carter/AP

Abraham Tui (l.) and his wife, Anna, wave to cars at a rally against same-sex marriage at the Hawaii State Capital in Honolulu on Oct., 2013. The Hawaii legislature started debate on a bill that would make the popular wedding and honeymoon destination the 15th US state to legalize same-sex marriage – and would repeal a voter-approved constitutional amendment that banned gay matrimony. Hugh Gentry/Reuters

Lisa Kesser (l.) reacts while completing paperwork to obtain a marriage license with her partner of 20 years, Dorcey Baker, at City Hall in Providence, R.I., on Aug., 2013. Gay marriage became legal in Rhode Island at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 1. Steven Senne/AP

Jen Chang (l.) and Inae Lee pose for photos before joining over 100 gay couples in a mass wedding during World Pride 2014 at Casa Loma in Toronto, Canada, on June 2014. For gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their supporters, June is a month of pride and celebration. Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press/AP

Theresa Volpe (l.) testifies alongside her daughter, Ava, as her partner, Mercedes Santos, sits with their son, Jaidon, during an executive committee hearing of the Illinois Senate about same-sex marriage, at the State Capitol in Springfield on Jan., 2013. Seth Perlman/AP

Australian MP Ian Hunter (l.) holds hands with his partner, Leith Semmens, during their wedding in the town of Jun, southern Spain, on Dec., 2012. Hunter told Australian media that the two had decided to marry in Spain given that gay marriage is not legal in Australia. Pepe Marin/Reuters

Carmela Kenney arranges a bridal veil for a same-sex pair of mannequins in the window of Sposabella Couture in Brooklyn, N.Y. on June, 2011 New York businesses that cater to the wedding and honeymoon trade were seeking an economic jolt from the passage of the same-sex marriage law. Mark Lennihan/AP

Gina Smith (l.,) her partner, Heidi Norton, and son Avery react to applause from the crowd outside City Hall in Northampton, Mass., after getting their marriage certificate, on Jan., 2004. They were one of seven gay couples who brought a court case to allow gay marriage in Massachusetts. Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor

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Obama announced his support for gay marriage a day after North Carolina, which he won narrowly in 2008, voted for a constitutional ban on such unions. The Democratic convention is in Charlotte, but that's no guarantee.